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Oxyrhynchus
Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:08 pm


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Thanks Nator, I agree we should stick to the topic more.

I have not come into much contact with primary sources (or close to primary sources) of various mythologies, but focusing on

1. the virgin birth as being not original

2. concept of sacrifice to save humanity not original

can you document them for comparative purposes?

I have little time, to do the job myself but instead rely on books such as from Josh McDowell who wrote:

"Some have attempted to account for the virgin birth by tracing it to Greek or Babylonian mythology. They argue that the Gospel writers borrowed this story from the mythology of their day. This view does not fit the facts, for there is not any hero in pagan mythology for which a virgin birth is claimed, and moreover it would be unthinkable to the Jewish mind to construct such a story from mythology.

"Many deities among Greeks, Babylonians and Egyptians were reported born in an unusual manner, but for the most part these beings never actually existed. The accounts are filled with obvious mythological elements which are totally absent from the Gospel narratives. They are reports of a god or goddess being born into the world by sexual relations between some heavenly being or by some adulterous affair among the gods and goddess."  --- Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense